Dead Duck
Team: Lark Case

"The last thing that I recollect was my pulling myself out of a river just at nightfall. I had not a rag of clothing and knew nothing of my whereabouts, but all that night I traveled, cold and footsore, toward the north. At daybreak I found myself at Canyon Diablo, my destination. The first man that I met was a outlaw named William Briscoe, whom I knew very well. You can fancy his astonishment at seeing me in that condition, and my own at his asking who the devil I was."

"'Jake Duck,' I answered; 'who should I be?'"

He stared like an owl.

"'You do look it,' he said, and I observed that he drew a little away from me. 'What's up?' he added.

I told him what had happened. He heard me through, still staring; then he said:

"'My dear fellow, if you are The Duck I ought to inform you that I buried you two months ago. I was out with a small scouting party and found your body, full of bullet-holes and newly scalped. Come to town and I'll show you your clothing and some letters that I took from your person."

And so the Adventure Begins...

Note: This series concept is based on an excerpt from the book Present at a Hanging and Other Ghost Stories, by Ambrose Bierce, 1913. (Which is now in the public domain.)